


Over the Shoulder

by teaandabiccie



Series: The End [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I can't believe that's a tag - I shouldn't be surprised, Minor Character Death, Protective Roronoa Zoro, Roronoa Zoro-centric, Some Humor, Vivi gets her moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:08:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29746143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teaandabiccie/pseuds/teaandabiccie
Summary: The world ends twice for Nefertari Vivi; once when the outbreak starts and again when she loses Igaram at Whisky Peak. Luckily, she has new friends in the form of the Straw Hat crew to keep her going.OrThe world ends and Roronoa Zoro is roped into accompanying the girls as they go bra shopping.
Relationships: Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Nefertari Vivi, Nami & Nefertari Vivi, Nami & Roronoa Zoro, Nefertari Vivi & Roronoa Zoro
Series: The End [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186304
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	Over the Shoulder

**Author's Note:**

> I have written this over 2 nights. I'm not sure what happened or how it happened. There will be silly moments mixed in with some darker stuff.
> 
> This takes place in the same universe as The End (Justifies The Means) but none of the oneshots I might write for this series are as dark as the main one and you do not have to have read that fic in order to understand this one (though chapter 1 of The End does tell you how Luffy and Zoro met at the start of it all).
> 
> I don't think this is particularly polished but I hope you enjoy!

Robin leads the way as they walked down what had once been the local high street. Nami walks at her side, a long metal rod gripped tightly in both hands. She has a tote bag over one shoulder and sunglasses on her head. On her face is a look of grim determination.

Robin, for her part, seems entirely unaffected. Robin is a scientist, or so she claims. Certainly, the equipment in the backpack she carries everywhere supports that story. But there is something else about Robin, something in her carefully schooled expression and even more careful steps. Each footfall is measured and silent. She has a way of looking around, surveying all of her surroundings, without making it look obvious.

She is always on guard, so Zoro keeps his up around her.

Metal clatters to the ground.

All four of them turn to look, Nami’s shoulders flinching. Vivi jumps to the side, her arm knocking into Zoro’s. As she recoils from the contact, her heel catches a crack in the pavement and she topples backwards with a loud gasp.

He grabs her by the upper arm and pulls her upright before she can fall. In an alleyway, a startled raccoon scampers away

Nami releases the breath she was holding.

“Thank you, Mr. Bushido,” says Vivi, quietly. She is shaking. He’s not surprised.

“Let’s go before that attracts anything,” he replies, addressing that comment to everyone.

Robin nods. “It would be a shame if we were surrounded here and eaten before achieving our goal.”

Nami pales, eyes darting around the streets. “We’re not, right?”

“No,” says Zoro, pushing onwards.

Vivi scampers after him, sticking close. She has been doing this ever since he saved her from the horde at Whisky Peak.

“Not yet,” adds Robin.

“I refuse to die without a cute outfit,” says Nami with a sniff.

Zoro frowns. “Aren’t you always saying you’re ‘too cute to die’?”

She reaches back to pat him on the head. “Now you’re getting it. So don’t let me die, okay?”

Zoro could point out that he is not intending to let anyone die today, that this is his entire role within the group – combat ability and heavy lifting. He could also point out that if he is to prioritise anybody for saving, of course it would be Nami. They have been together since the early days. They are nakama.

Robin is an enigma. Vivi does not belong to them. Not yet.

But Vivi is walking so close to him that her arm is almost brushing his and he is hyperaware of her presence. She keeps looking back like any moment they will be encircled by a ravenous horde of zombies, unable to accept the stillness around them, the momentary calm.

After the carnage at Whisky Peak, it isn’t surprising. Zoro understands that: hypervigilance borne from loss.

He is not letting anybody die today.

If the noise attracted anything, they manage to get away before it converges upon the source. Their path along the high street remains calm and quiet. If not for the ruin around them, it could have been a simple walk. Except that a place like this, before the end, would have bustling with too many bodies.

He doesn’t prefer the world now. But the shopping is definitely easier.

The mall is dead. It is one of the fancy ones with the open entranceway but walls on either side in a ‘v’ formation. Stepping between those walls, Zoro tries not to feel constricted. It’s hard because Vivi presses close to one side, Nami to the other. One of them kicks him in the back of his boot and he makes a point of sighing.

“Sorry,” mutters Vivi.

The doors are all open, some of them missing panes of glass. Nami is not wearing appropriate footwear for this. She glances up at Zoro like she’s debating asking him to ferry her over the debris but Robin is already picking her way across, still silent in spite of the tinkling glass.

With a customary scan of the area behind them – still clear – Zoro follows her.

They proceed in silence.

Inside the mall, evidence of the outbreak and subsequent chaos is everywhere. It is in the toppled plastic plants, still attached to their pots, lying next to smashed benches. It is in the half lowered blinds in shop entrances, some looking like they had succeeded, others like there had been no chance.

There are no bodies on the floor in here and in some ways that is worse. It means one of two things, Zoro thinks: either the bodies that would have accompanied old bloodstains have risen and may yet lurk nearby or survivors had tried settle here once. Perhaps they linger here too.

“You wanted to go to Criminal, yes?” says Robin in a low voice.

Zoro shoots her a glare before examining every nearby shop entrance. He knows she sees him do this but she does not react, watching Nami instead.

Nami nods.

“It’s just up here,” says Robin, gesturing to the escalator.

They all tense even further, each of them examining the surroundings. Zoro thumbs Kitetsu’s hilt.

“This was owned by Baroque Works,” Robin explains quietly. Her lips barely move. “It was cleared out and used as a safe house before moving on to Whisky Peak. They didn’t leave any agents behind so it won’t be completely clear still but there should be no lingering survivalists, dead or otherwise, from the beginning.”

She takes an experimental step onto the escalator. Nami follows her, shoulders still tense but looking more at ease. Nami is like Zoro in many ways – they are both more realistic and less trusting than Luffy. But Nami clearly wants to believe in Robin. Before Whisky Peak, they didn’t have any women in their group and she likes the older woman already. The others all do.

It falls to Zoro to watch her. Luffy hasn’t been wrong about anybody he has asked to join them yet but on the day that he is, Zoro will not let it fall upon him like an executioner’s axe.

Robin stops at the top of the escalator, pausing to look to her left. Zoro catches mild surprise on her face before it reverts back to neutral. She holds out her arm to stop Nami from approaching further.

To their left is a mobile phone shop. Its shutter is only three quarters of the way down, the windows smashed. Inside, a lot of the products have been removed, displays lying smashed on the floor, obviously a victim of the looting of the early days.

Even so, a woman stands staring into the shop through the broken window. At first glance, she could almost be browsing even though at this point, she could simply have stepped in. Doors are no boundaries now; only fortifications signify that a place is inhabited.

She is wearing a dress with lemons printed on it and brown leather shoes. There is a fancy watch on her wrist and a yellow beret on her head. She has a purse at her hip and looks like an ordinary woman on an ordinary shopping day.

Except that her skin is as pale and ashy as her dress. Dried blood stains her left leg. Her hand too is blackened by it.

Vivi steps up onto the same step as Zoro, having been looking down behind them. She is so focused on making sure that nothing is able to sneak up behind them that she hasn’t noticed they have stopped. Her shoulder connects with his ribs. It is not anywhere near hard enough to cause him damage or even to make him move but she turns her head to apologise.

Her apology dies as a hiss on her tongue as her breath is sucked back in with a horrified gasp.

The woman in the lemon dress turns her head. It tilts to the side unnaturally. Blood and gore stains her front as though it has dribbled over her lips. There is a hole in her stomach, a chunk bitten out of her neck. Her eyes are unseeing.

She draws an awful rattling breath as she begins to lumber towards them.

Zoro leaps up onto the handrail, leaps off of that and beheads the woman with the wicked sharpness of Kitetsu’s edge.

The head falls to the floor and rolls several feet away. For a moment, the woman’s body continues to stand as though frozen in time. Then it crumples and lies still.

The dead don’t bleed like the living do but Zoro still wipes off Kitetsu’s blade on a nearby cushioned seat. You can never be too careful.

That done, he pauses in total stillness, listening for the warning signs of any further encounters with the undead. At the top of the escalator, he sees Robin and Nami doing the same.

He and Robin seem to come to the conclusion that there are no more immediate threats at the same time. Robin turns to the right and continues to lead the group. Nami extends her hand towards Vivi. Vivi, who stares with wide, horrified eyes at the head of the blonde woman that had landed a few feet away from the escalator, at her eye level.

“Vivi,” she says softly.

Vivi’s eyes are haunted as she turns to Nami, giving her a shaky smile. “Y-yes.”

“Are you okay?” asks Nami as Vivi takes a step up on the escalator.

Vivi’s legs are trembling, both hands balled into fists.

“Yes,” she says, more decisively this time. She closes her eyes as she walks past the head.

They do not encounter anybody else, undead or otherwise, and it isn’t long before they stop in front of a shop that miraculously has its glass window display still intact. An unlit neon sign proclaims the shop to be ‘Criminal’.

Nami points into the doorway with her rod.

“Go, Zoro, clear the path,” she commands theatrically. “And don’t splash blood on anything. This is a classy place – everything’s expensive.”

“Tch,” says Zoro, but pushes the rod aside and goes to stand in the doorway. “Like money matters now.”

“Merchandise does,” hisses Nami, prodding him in the back with her rod. “Hurry up.”

He sighs, unsheathing Kitetsu and holding the sword in front of him in case he is about to receive a surprise.

The door opens surprisingly quietly. Robin steps forwards to hold it there, propping it open with a nearby plant pot. She offers him a nod.

He reciprocates. That is useful. His escape route is clear at least.

Cleaning the shop is deceptively easy. Zoro is not local to the grand line. He had never actually been here while the world had been normal and he hadn’t known anybody who lived here either. He had also been unlawfully held in a cell when the outbreak struck so he hadn’t had the chance to get any news of how it happened anyway.

But he, Luffy, Nami and Usopp have travelled a long way since those early days. He has been to enough places to start to put the picture together.

In his mind, the lack of general debris in the shop – formerly human or otherwise – means one of two things: either Baroque works had meticulously reconstructed this shop or the world had gone to shit before this place had been open for the day and in the chaotic looting that followed, nobody had seen designer clothing as a necessity.

He stands in the doorway and waves his arm to attract Nami’s attention, waving the girls inside.

“Clear?” Nami mouths.

Zoro nods, watching as the tension eases from her shoulders. She straps her rod to her back before she steps inside. Robin follows immediately. Vivi lingers in the doorway, looking behind her in the direction of the dead woman.

The decapitated corpse is not visible from here but Vivi isn’t really looking at it anyway. There is a far-away look in her eyes.

“Vivi?” says Nami at a stage whisper. She holds up a sky blue shirt adorned with flowers. “What do you think of this?”

Vivi enters the shop. Her feet drag like she is exhausted.

Zoro filters out their conversation and instead retrieves the ‘boyfriend seat’ from outside of the ladies fitting room, carrying it carefully to the centre of the store, where he can perch on the back of it and see over the racks of clothing to where the girls are while also keeping an eye on the entrance.

It is his job after all. Nami had joking called him the ‘bag man’ but he knows he is a lookout. There are no shopping bags. They can take only what they can reasonably carry now, what they explicitly need, so they have only Nami’s tote bag and Robin’s backpack with them. Nami will carry it herself so if they get separated, she has everything that is hers.

Zoro will not allow them to be separated but they always prepare for the worst now. Just in case. What happened to Vivi and Robin is evidence enough of that one. You never know when a party will be split. They have to give each other the best chance of being able to escape and reunite outside of the afterlife.

Still, Zoro has no interest in being here. Luffy and Sanji had both wanted to accompany the girls from the moment that Nami mentioned going to the mall. Nami had shut both down immediately; Sanji because he would dote over them and Luffy because he would get bored immediately and blunder into some kind of trouble, immediately ruining the shopping trip. That was in fact the entire reason Luffy had wanted to come in the first place – to explore the mall and see what cool stuff was left there.

Zoro has no such urges, not without Luffy. All he wants is to return to the rest of the group safely.

The girls’ soft conversation washes over him, reminding him of simpler times he hadn’t appreciated while he’d had the chance. They are getting progressively louder and he knows he should shoot them a glare and hush them so they don’t attract further attention. But he has a great view of the surrounding area through the display windows. He will be able to give warning. And they sound… normal. Almost.

It’s nice, peaceful. He does not regret coming here.

“Vivi, look, this is cute – and it’s in your size.”

He can see Nami out of the corner of his eye. They are all standing by the bra display, Nami is holding up a lacy contraption in white. It would be an absolute pain in the ass to keep clean.

“Yeah,” Vivi agrees. She sounds… not happy… still tired, but no longer so defeated. “It doesn’t look very supportive though.”

“Not very good for running,” Robin chimes in.

“You don’t know until you try it,” Nami insists. “Besides, if it comes to running, you can just hold ‘em in place. You’ll have bigger things to worry about than your boobs. And I for one am not wearing a sports bra for the rest of my life. Do you know how hard it is to find cute sports bras in my size?”

“As hard as it is to find flattering bras for bustier ladies in general?” replies Robin. “As hard as surviving an apocalypse?”

“I’m not saying it’s harder but we’re surviving an apocalypse right now and I’ve never found a cute enough sports bra to warrant the price,” Nami concludes.

Vivi looks in the direction of the changing rooms and bites her lip. When Nami says ‘surviving’, she grips the hanger that the bra dangles from tightly enough that her knuckles go white.

“I believe Swordsman-san cleared out the whole shop,” says Robin. “They are quite safe. For now.”

“Oh Robin, this one would look great on you!” exclaims Nami, holding out a black and purple lingerie set.

“It _is_ my style,” Robin concedes.

The cook, Zoro thinks, deliberately focusing his attention outside, might have died from other causes than the undead at this point. It is a good thing Sanji did not accompany them.

“And my size too,” continues Robin, mild surprise leaking out into her voice.

“I always know,” says Nami with a sly grin. “It’s my everyday superpower. Among other talents of course.”

“It’s quite impressive,” says Robin, good naturedly.

“Well, try them on!” says Nami, ushering them towards the changing room.

Viv still hesitates, playing with the white lace in her hands. Zoro isn’t deliberately looking. In fact, he’s trying _not_ to look. He has no interest in any of these women or their bodies (which he suspects might be why Nami wanted him to come in the first place) but they tend not to like the men of their group witnessing their bare skin unless they have chosen to share it.

Still, in this situation, he is aware of all movement, especially of the ones he’s sworn to protect. And he notices that Vivi is biting her lip. She should be stopped before she draws blood.

Thankfully, Nami notices. “Well, nobody is around. I suppose it’s safer if we just try things on here. We’re all women after all. Except Zoro but…” she trails off.

“What are you suggesting, witch?” snaps Zoro but quietly. “I don’t give a shit what you do or where.”

Nami sends him a knowing look. “Exactly,” she says, then adds with false sweetness. “You won’t peek, will you?”

“ _Why would I_?” Exasperation and offence spill out of him with the words.

Nami has the audacity to laugh. “See, it’s fine. Try those on. I want to see what the white one looks like on you.”

Zoro sighs, releasing some of his irritation. He turns away, crosses his legs and takes a deep breath in to centre himself. It is not quite meditation; he cannot afford to lose himself to that. Instead it is focus. Specifically focus out of those display windows, where nothing living (or dead) stirs.

It is still light outside. It would be ordinary trading hours. But with the chatter of the girls behind him and no immediate danger, the place echoes that exhilarating feeling of being in a place you shouldn’t be after its closing hours, breaking and entering after dark.

He is so focused on his musings and watching for trouble outside that he completely disregards the women inside until Nami’s hand descends on his shoulder and he jumps.

“Zoning out?” she teases.

“Zoning in,” he replies. “I’m watching outside. You can handle inside yourselves.”

“Right, right,” says Nami dismissively. “I need you to take your shirt off.”

“What?”

“Your shirt,” repeats Nami, like he simply hasn’t heard and this is not a ridiculous request at all. “Take it off.”

“I heard you. I said, ‘what?’” He gives her a look.

“I believe you meant ‘why’,” comes a cool voice from behind him.

“Robin,” says Nami, “has challenged my abilities.”

“I wouldn’t say she…” begins Vivi, raising her hands in a mediating manner.

“Navigator-san thinks this would compliment your skin tone and your hair colour perfectly.” Robin gestures to a ball of green fabric in Nami’s hand.

Nami reveals it with a flourish. It is a bra. A bra with a wide band at the bottom. The green fabric forms lacy patterns, under which is sheer black fabric. Nami is grinning. Robin watches with mild interest. Vivi’s cheeks are flushed but for the first time since they left for the day, she seems relaxed, involved.

“It’s a bra,” says Zoro.

“Your eyes work, great,” says Nami. “Not too sure about your brain.”

“I’m a man,” says Zoro slowly.

“What’s your point?” asks Nami, though she isn’t really asking. “Shirt.”

“My point?” echoes Zoro. “Do I need to make one? I’m a man and that is bra.”

“A bralette actually,” says Nami. “It’s fabric, no underwiring. And it will look great on you. Don’t you want to be fashionable? Don’t you want to look good? Don’t you want to _impress_?”

Zoro wonders who she thinks he could possibly have to impress in this current scenario. And why she thinks green lace and fabric he can see through would do it.

He doesn’t voice this. He doesn’t want to get into it. Instead he sighs.

“You know I don’t care about any of that shit.”

“Great, so put it on then.”

He looks between Vivi and Robin. He can still see the amusement on the latter’s face. Vivi… Vivi smiles.

As if sensing his resolve starting to crumble on this, Nami adds, “We’ve all tried something on.”

“We’re shopping for you!” Zoro argues. “This is a _ladies’ clothing store_!

Nami sighs, looks up at him through her eyelashes. “Come on, Zoro, please? Robin and Vivi owe me fifty beli each if I guessed your size right. And you’ll look hot too because I have excellent taste.”

That one was debatable, Zoro thinks, but he doesn’t know enough about fashion to dispute it.

“They’re women’s clothes. For women.”

“Gender is constructed by society,” says Robin.

“Society crumbled a while ago,” adds Nami.

“So why do you need money?” argues Zoro. “And why should _I_ care about it?”

“Because it might un-crumble and I for one would like to be ready,” Nami replies.

She stares him directly in the eye. For a moment, her expression is serious. She makes a gesture like she’s flipping the hair out of her eyes but was not in her eyes in the first place. Her eyes flick to the right. She is drawing his attention to Vivi.

Vivi, who is now trying to muffle laughter with her hand.

Vivi, who has stuck close to his side for the past three days because he was the one to pull her behind him during the disaster at Whisky Peak. He kept her there, defended her while her vision had been blurred by tears.

Her friends did not make it. The man with the thick blonde curls and loud voice had begged for her to survive and for them to help her. Nami had been the one to answer that call. Zoro acted on her behalf.

Vivi hasn’t slept since. He knows because he doesn’t sleep much either. Hers and Robin’s sleeping spaces lie between his and Sanji’s so he has a front row seat to her chorus of muffled sobbing every night. Sometimes she lies close enough that his heightened senses feel her body shake with it.

Now, she’s laughing. Like her world hasn’t crumbled anew. Like she hasn’t experienced a second apocalypse with the loss of her loved ones.

Zoro is very strong. He has to be to protect the ones he cares about. But he is also quite weak. And he doesn’t care about clothing, not really. He’s not the cook. He doesn’t have anything to prove.

Even though the ribbing he would receive from said cook would potentially be merciless.

“I’ll do it for a cut of the money,” he says to Nami.

She narrows her eyes at him and ‘tsk’s.

“And,” he adds, “if the shit cook finds out, I get _all_ of the money.”

At this, Nami pulls a face. She pauses for long enough to let him know that this is a great injustice to her, that she is extremely reluctant to take this offer. They both know that she isn’t. They both know this was never about any kind of money and always about some kind of fun. Making Vivi feel better, helping her forget for an afternoon, that’s a bonus too.

“Fine,” she concedes. “It’s a deal. Now shirt off.”

“If you amend your guess now, the bet is void,” Robin chimes in.

Nami smiles sweetly. “Oh, I won’t need to. Come on, Zoro. Hurry up.”

He does it. He pulls his grubby off-white shirt over his head, leaving his beloved and warm haramaki over his bare belly. As Nami hands him the bralette, he wonders how it has come to this. The world is ending and he’s standing in some fancy clothing store, putting on ladies’ lacy underwear.

The world is ending and apparently his dignity has died with it.

“See?” says Nami, gesturing towards him with a flourish.

Zoro looks down at himself, defeated. The damned thing perfectly matches the colour scheme of his haramaki and trousers – not that this is difficult; he mostly wears green, black and white. It also fits flawlessly, its lacy cups perfectly cradling his pecs.

Robin’s eyebrows rise. Vivi looks openly shocked. Then she giggles.

“You are correct,” says Robin with a slow nod.

Vivi adds, “It really suits you, Mr. Bushido.”

He wants to take that as teasing but he can tell that she’s being perfectly earnest. A tingle of discomfort rolls through him, the fine hairs on the back of his neck prickling.

“Is that it? Is the stupid bet done?” he asks.

Nami gives a dramatic sigh and rolls her eyes. “Honestly, we try to do something nice for-“

A loud yell cuts her off. They all collectively flinch. Nami stuffs Zoro’s shirt into her tote bag, pushing him towards the entrance of the shop.

“I am not going out like-“ he begins to hiss.

“Nami, Zoro!” a familiar voice calls urgently from the doorway. Luffy is crouching on the railing opposite, looking down at the first floor.

“Luffy!” exclaims Nami. It’s too loud.

Luffy pulls a face. “Oh, they’re really mad.”

“Give me my shirt!” hisses Zoro.

Robin rushes out of the store. She also looks down and her eyes widen, her mouth falling open slightly. It is more shock than any of them have seen on her face since Whisky Peak was overrun. Another chill runs across Zoro’s exposed skin.

Nami follows her, hands balled into fists. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Shirt!” Zoro hisses again, trailing behind.

Nami ignores him.

“Sanji wanted to go looking for food but I saw a cool dog that turned out to be a statue and when I turned back, everyone was gone so I decided to come to the mall to get Usopp some stuff. I found this really awesome shop with a load of jack-in-the-boxes,” explains Luffy, brightly.

“Luffy!” hisses Nami. Zoro feels her pain on a molecular level.

“And you also found undeath by dismemberment,” says Robin, regaining her composure.

“We should definitely go now,” Luffy agrees.

Nami gives a strangled shriek as she looks over the railing before sharply turning her head to the right. “Did you alert the entire population?”

“There are looooads of them. They don’t like music boxes,” says Luffy. “They look like those guys that fed us, where we got Vivi an’ Robin.”

“Baroque works,” breathes Robin.

“Shit,” says Nami. “Shit, _shit!_ They’re coming up the escalator. Is there another way down?”

“Stairs, this way,” says Robin, urgently.

She surges down what would once have been a busy pathway. Nami follows, Luffy running along the top of the railing like certain death does not await him if he falls. Zoro practically barrels out of the open doorway, seeing the familiar lumbering figures of the undead making their way towards them.

He turns to run after the others. Then pauses. There are no human footsteps behind him.

“Vivi!” he snaps.

She is still standing in the middle of the shop, looking across the open space at a group of five zombies on the other side. They fling themselves at the barrier of the railing, lacking the intelligence to tell that they have to go around to get at them. One of them topples over it and falls with a splat. It doesn’t die; Zoro hears it struggling to rise again.

“Vivi, come on!”

She flinches. Her eyes are wide and haunted, filled with unshed tears.

He doesn’t recognise any of the animated corpses in front of them. He gets the feeling that Vivi and Robin do. Vivi still doesn’t move. There is a group of around fifteen approaching from the escalator. He hears more down below. They will be upon them soon. A couple of minutes.

A minute and a half.

They don’t have time to hesitate. The others have nearly reached the stairs.

“Vivi, move!”

“VIVI!” shouts Luffy so loudly that it reverberates around the domed ceiling.

All heads turn towards him, living and dead. The large group below begins to move in that direction and Zoro curses, immediately redirecting the attention of the nearest group towards himself.

Luffy crouches on the railing, drawing back like he’s ready to launch himself in their direction.

Zoro holds out a hand to him, shaking his head. “I’ve got her – go!”

Twenty seconds. It’s not enough time. He dives into the shop, reaching out for Vivi. She comes back to herself then. She’s shaking. Her face is wet. She can’t seem to draw a full breath.

“Mr-“ she begins.

He doesn’t trust her to run. He throws her over his shoulder. The closest zombies have reached the entrance and blocked it off.

“Close your eyes,” says Zoro.

With Kitetsu’s hilt and a running start, he smashes the furthest window. Vivi tries to muffle a shriek as they are showered with shattered glass. The closest zombie lunges towards them, mouth impossibly wide, but Zoro sidesteps, slitting its throat with one diagonal slash. It is not deep enough to fell it but Zoro is already sprinting away.

He can’t fight them all, not if he has Vivi over his shoulder.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” she mutters.

He doesn’t respond.

“Someone always has to save me. I’m so-“ he feels her body convulse with an unhelpful sob.

“Then save yourself next time,” he all but growls.

The others have gone from the stairs. Zoro skids to a halt at the top of them. At the bottom, another group of zombies has already converged to block the path. They’ll have to go around.

As Zoro turns, another strangled scream cuts through the air. Nami. It’s terrible that he recognises it. It’s worse that he can’t see her.

“Nami!” screams Vivi. Luffy echoes it, their combined voices ringing in Zoro’s ears.

He sees her then, separated from the other two in the doorway to a blocked off shoe shop. Luffy turns but immediately, there are three Zombies snapping at him and he has no choice but to step back and swing the bat in his hands. Robin is already several feet away from him, wavering in place.

Nami manages to knock her undead assailant back with her metal rod but as soon as she does, another has taken its place.

“Luffy!” she cries.

Zoro rushes to the railing. He could jump down into the thick of it. He might break a leg or two in the fall but he could buy Luffy enough time to get Nami out and run. He can’t do that with Vivi on his back. Maybe he could throw her towards Robin. But would Robin help? Would Vivi be able to land it? Would he cripple or kill her too?

A chance is better than none.

He draws back but at that moment, Vivi speaks. “Mr. Bushido!”

He pauses.

“The chandelier – can you throw me?”

He looks up and sees it, the grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a false crown of candles that hasn’t known light for quite some time. It is made to look fancy from afar but he can tell that it’s mostly fake. Cheap to produce. It’s damaged too.

He doesn’t think it can support his weight. It might not support Vivi’s.

“If you fall, you’ll die,” he says in the moment he assesses this.

“I won’t,” says Vivi. “I can do this.”

Her voice burns with determination. He can still feel her body quivering yet her voice remains steady.

“I have to do this.”

He can’t ignore her resolve.

He sees her then, the Vivi they met at Whisky Peak. He remembers making it up to the rooftop guided by Robin, shoving Nami up ahead of him. Remembers hearing the scream, not fear, not resignation but a desperate ferocity,

_He turned his head before hauling himself up. The rope ladder was shaking, the knots holding it in place screaming, fibres fraying as the undead piled on top of each other and clawed at it. It wasn’t going to hold. He needed to move as quickly as possible, jump clear before it snapped._

_But his attention was captured by the cornered Baroque Works people down below. Zoro hadn’t seen the start of the outbreak but he imagined that this was what it had been like. People ran desperately, scattered and were picked off or overwhelmed but the sheer number of enemies._

_A couple of groups of people clumped together, attempting to form a defensive ring but they too were quickly overwhelmed. There were too many. There were no openings._

_Vivi stood in the middle of one of those groups. She had a chakram in one hand and a silenced gun in the other. For every one she picked off, another trampled it into the dirt and lunged for her companions. They were so close. Less than ten feet separated them from the rope ladder Zoro now clung to._

_They weren’t going to make it._

_One of them unleashed a bloodcurdling scream as a zombie bit into his shoulder._

_“Nine!” screeched a woman from another rooftop._

_Vivi turned her head, horror dawning in her eyes. She wasn’t the only one. It was all the hesitation needed. The undead figure of a large woman took a swipe at her, lunging forwards with bared teeth. A blond man with rows of large curls drove his shoulder into it to knock it off course._

_It worked. Vivi reeled backwards, shaken but safe._

_The zombie woman’s teeth scraped down the blond man’s arm. He kicked it away. Too late._

_“Igaram!” screamed Vivi._

_The look on his face was grim determination._

_Zoro did not see the rest. The rope ladder supporting his weight snapped on one side. His shoulder struck the wall, the impact heavy enough to knock the air out of him in one long breath. He braced himself._

_Nami called his name and he pulled himself up with one arm, grasping at the edge of the roof. Looking up, he expected her to have her hand extended help pull him up – even though she was not strong and he was not light. But wasn’t. She was pointing._

_“Help her, Zoro – we have to help her!”_

_“We can’t!” Zoro hissed, hauling himself half up onto the roof._

_“Just get ready to grab her!” snapped Nami._

_He turned his head just in time to see the blond man launch Vivi into the air, blood dripping down his injured arm. It looked like a practised stunt. Vivi tucked her body like a trapeze artist. But the angle was off. She would hit the corner of the rooftop. She would fall just short of being able to grab it._

_He wasn’t going to let her fall._

_He lunged over the edge of the roof, anchoring himself to it with one arm and one leg. His other arm stretched out, anticipating the angle that she would drop, fingers fully extended. Unless she reached for him, it wouldn’t be enough._

_She did. He clasped her wrist._

_Neither of them fell._

“Mr. Bushido, please boost me!”

 _Don’t fall._ He doesn’t say it but he sets her down, pins her with a serious stare and that is the message his eyes give her.

She receives it, nods. Her jaw is set. He copies what he witnessed her companion do to save her life three days before. He’s stronger than Igaram was. He isn’t injured. He can toss her higher and she makes full use of it.

The chandelier clatters as she lands on it. Where she sets her left foot, a piece snaps off and falls into the zombies converging on Nami below. Vivi does not fall. She scrambles up like a child climbing a tree.

Below, Nami manages to shove two zombies back a couple of feet but it does not grant her the space to run. Luffy is still stuck. He will soon be surrounded too if he doesn’t move. Robin takes a step towards him.

“Keep back!” shouts Vivi.

She attracts the attention of all of the undead but suspended in the air as she is, they cannot get at her and silence no longer matters.

Luffy looks up, understanding dawning immediately on his face. Before he can be encircled, he shoots backwards, flattening himself against the wall. Robin remains where she is.

Vivi pulls out her chakram and saws at the main stem of the chandelier. Twine by twine, it snaps. It happens quickly but seems like the motion is measured, controlled. Somehow the fall still takes them all by surprise.

Vivi pauses, pushes at it with her foot. The final snap echoes with a crack of plastic and the lights hurtle to the ground.

Zoro does not see it smash down on the zombies below. He is too busy watching as Vivi grips what remains of the cord from which the chandelier had been suspended. She swings to and fro, finally launching herself towards the next light fitting.

It rattles with the sudden impact of her weight, creaks but holds.

She begins to swing that too. It will only swing from left to right and Vivi’s best chance of landing it falls on the side where half of the railing is already broken. Where four zombies linger, growling at each other, disorientated by the sudden loud noise which seems to come from everywhere.

Zoro surges forwards and dispatches them. He makes quick work of it, kicking their prone forms over the rail and onto the floor below.

“Watch it!” snaps Nami as she scrambles over the chandelier debris.

Underneath it, the some trapped zombies still moan and snarl. It is a temporary fix. He wants to snap at Nami, with her bare ankles, to be careful. His heart hammers too loudly in his chest.

Vivi swings. The second chandelier screams. They hear something come loose.

“Vivi!” calls Luffy.

Zoro echoes it. She hasn’t built enough momentum yet but he’s there, ready at the rail. Like he was there at Whisky Peak. He holds his hand out to her.

Vivi jumps.

She flies further than he expected, slamming directly into his chest. He stumbles backwards, closing his arms around her instinctively to steady them both. They don’t fall.

The undead that had followed them on the other side of the mall’s upper floor have now turned back towards this new noise source – and the escalator that is their closest escape route. But Zoro and Vivi are faster.

He leads her down the escalator, trusting Luffy to deal with the undead obstruction at the bottom. The two of them work wordlessly in perfect sync with each other; they have been together since the start. None of the others understand each other’s fighting styles like they do.

They fight their way free and run the rest.

They do not stop until they can no longer see the mall building behind them and most of them can barely breathe.

“So,” says Nami as soon as she has the breath to speak. “Do you want to tell me how you summoned a horde of zombies to the mall?”

Luffy sniffs, wiping at his nose. “I told you. They didn’t like the music boxes. I swiped a really cool one for Usopp though. You crank a handle and a clown pops out.”

“Get rid of it!” hisses Nami. “It makes noise and he’ll hate it.”

“Doesn’t make noise,” replied Luffy. “Only a _boing_ when the spring pops up. It has a long nose like Usopp too. It’s the Usopp box.”

“Well I’m glad you got what you came for,” says Nami peevishly.

“So did you,” Zoro supplies.

“That’s not how I wanted it to end. I almost – we almost…” she trails off, looks towards Vivi and suddenly wraps her arms around her in a tight hug. “Thank you, Vivi.”

“Yeah, that was so cool!” Luffy chimes in. “I know you wanna go back to your family an’ all but I really want you to stay with us.”

Robin smiles. Vivi looks between all of them, her eyes finally landing on Zoro, who gives her a slight nod.

“It really wasn’t-“

“Vivi, you dropped a chandelier on a big group of zombies,” says Nami fiercely. “It saved my life.”

“If it wasn’t for Mr. Bushido, I…” Guilt flashes across her face.

“Vivi and Zoro made a really good team,” says Luffy, breaking off in his signature laugh. “Ahhh, all that runnin’s made me reaaaaally hungry. You think Sanji managed to find something good?”

“In my experience, Cook-san always makes something good of what we have,” says Robin diplomatically.

“Yeah,” Luffy agrees. “Sanji’s great but I really want a big feast of meat like the ones we had at the last place.”

They all collectively stiffen. Zoro clears his throat. The less said about Whisky Peak, the better.

Luffy turns to him then, brown eyes wide. He blinks. Zoro follows the path of his gaze down from his own eyes to his chest and back up again.

“Zoro said we shouldn’t go out with loads of bare skin so stuff doesn’t get in it,” says Luffy. “And that’s why I shouldn’t wear shorts and I’ve gotta keep my shirt done up.”

Zoro becomes suddenly very aware of the cold wind against his skin. His exposed skin. Of which there is more than usual. He then becomes very aware of a cold hand seizing his insides.

“So why’s Zoro wearing that weird shirt?” Luffy fine, hammering the final nail into Zoro’s coffin.

Zoro grimaces.

Nami sighs and clonks their self-proclaimed captain on the head with her fist. “It’s a bra, Luffy. And we weren’t done shopping.”

“I thought it was bralette,” Zoro can’t resist saying. He holds his hand out towards her in a silent plea for his shirt. Now.

“A bro-let?” echoes Luffy. “Where’s mine?”

“You can have this one if you want,” says Zoro dryly.

“A _bra_ lette, Luffy,” Nami corrects. Somehow her tote bag remains on her shoulder. Like the rest of her, it escaped all harm from that scuffle. She digs around in it now.

“For bros?” says Luffy.

“For boobs,” says Nami, like that explains everything.

Luffy’s head swivels. He looks at the contraption encasing Zoro’s chest in deep consideration. “Ah,” he says, like he agrees that it explains everything.

“ _Hah?_ ” says Zoro, gesturing for Nami to hurry up.

“It’s a type of bra,” Robin supplies, ignoring Zoro and talking to Luffy. “It was quite fashionable to wear them as outerwear. Some women liked to draw attention to certain assets, while others found them quite comfortable and liberating.”

“Zoro’s boobs _are_ comfy,” says Luffy sagely, patting one side of Zoro’s chest.

“I don’t have-“ Zoro begins but he’s cut off when Nami presses what he assumes at first touch to be his shirt into his hand.

Except that it is green. And lacy. And not anywhere near large enough to cover his entire upper body. “What the hell is this?”

“Matching panties,” says Nami with a sly smile. “You’re welcome.”

“And what are these supposed to cover?” he says incredulously. He wants to drop the things but his hands have automatically unravelled the rolled up fabric. It is like watching a car crash unfold.

This is more taxing than fighting the undead.

“Your butt,” says Nami.

“Not much of it,” says Zoro. “Where is my shirt?”

“Aaww, you don’t want them? After we took so much time to find them for you?” says Nami.

“No!” says Zoro a little too loudly. “I want my shirt!”

Vivi and Robin both focus on the surrounding area.

“I’ll take ‘em,” says Luffy, plucking them out of Zoro’s hand. “Then Zoro an’ me can match.”

“I am not staying like this,” hisses Zoro. “What is wrong with all of you?”

Nami snickers. Luffy giggles. Zoro’s expression momentarily betrays his betrayal.

“We have company,” says Robin in a low voice.

Zoro curses a little bit more loudly than just under his breath. In spite of this, Robin remains as relaxed as she ever is. Vivi’s eyes widen. Then she gives a relieved smile.

A figure with rounds the corner with the largest backpack that Zoro has ever seen and the longest nose of anybody he’s ever known. A trail of cigarette smoke blows from behind him.

Usopp and Sanji.

Zoro wants the ground to swallow him.

“Oh – Vivi-chan! Robin-chwan! Nami-swaaaan!” calls Sanji as he approaches, grinning and waving like a madman. “And you other-“ he gets to Zoro and stops.

Zoro hates this. This is the worst possible scenario short of being preyed upon by the undead. The embarrassment of this moment will last for weeks – as long as the other guys won’t allow him to forget it.

But pride absolutely prohibits him from letting the cook know this. So he folds his arms across his (lacy) chest and puts on his best expression of borderline disdain, daring them to say anything.

“New look, marimo?” says Sanji, eyebrow raised. He seems to be taking stock of the opinions of the rest of the group, currently stuck at shock.

“Nice, um, bra?” says Usopp. He presses his lips together. He is one comment away from spilling his laughter.

Zoro glares.

“It’s a bro-let,” says Luffy. That does it.

“ _Bra_ lette,” corrects Nami. She hands Zoro his shirt like it is a great inconvenience for her to do so. “ _Bra_. Let.”

He snatches it gratefully, throwing it on over his head as quickly as he can without appearing desperate.

“For boobs,” says Luffy helpfully.

Nami sighs, rubbing at her temples.

Robin smiles. “For breast support, yes.”

Vivi giggles behind her hand, swiping a tear from her eye.

“For comfy boobs,” Luffy adds.

All eyes automatically gravitate towards his chest. Zoro too looks down, discovering that the outline of the green and black article of clothing is still visible underneath his off-white shirt. It feels just as obvious as it was before.

“The moss is wearing a bra,” repeats Sanji.

“An over the shoulder boulder holder if you will,” adds Usopp.

“You can carry rocks in ‘em?” says Luffy.

“The ‘rocks’ are metaphorical,” says Robin, then turning back to Sanji, adds, “Was your search fruitful?”

“It wasn’t a choice!” Zoro hisses. He turns to Nami. “You owe me 100 beli.”

Nami looks seriously unimpressed. “I’ll offer you a discount on my personal shopping services.”

“What?” Zoro exclaims.

“Don’t yell at Nami-san, moss-bra!” snaps Sanji, turning back to Robin and his tone back to pleasant as he answers her question.

Zoro itches to fight him but Nami is already talking to him.

“My services as personal shopper and bra fitter,” she says. “I will offer you a 100 beli discount. It’s very generous, Zoro. I did make you 80% hotter and you must like what we picked out for you. After all, you did wear it out of the shop.”

With the exception of Sanji and Robin, the others all dissolve into laughter. Vivi leans against Nami, who, even though she is shorter than Zoro, somehow still manages to look evilly down at him.

Zoro resolves never to volunteer to go with the girls again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts about this one.
> 
> Feedback always fuels me to keep going!


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